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I have about 30 pedals. I don’t have a single favorite. But these are what I actually use as opposed to what I play around with. None of them are what you’d consider “effect” effects. They’re all more what I think of as signal shapers or tone sculptors.
- Broughton Alex-1 Bax
- Broughton HPF
- Southampton Ictineo
- Southampton Fifth Gear V2
- Lounsberry Rupert
- Keeley Bassist
- Aphex Bass Xciter
Drool @ idea of the Keeley and the Xciter together.
Also +1 for the Xciterit's in what I consider my 'studio survival kit' now.
The Xciter has been a godsend for a couple of basses I own. I have a chambered LP type bass that benefits enormously from the way it brings a degree of clarity to its otherwise gorgeously deep and complex bass tone. That bass sounds great all by itself. But with the Xciter in the chain it becomes really impressive. Last bass I had that got anything like that sound was an Alembic.
I did try it with the Keeley Bassist. But I didn’t find it made much difference (so far) being there. Probably because the low end on the Xciter is handled by a compressor/sustainer type circuit at its core. So the Xciter already brings a lot of what a properly dialed in compressor would do for the mix. And my playing levels are pretty even and controlled even without a compressor.
So maybe they both are doing the same thing the way I’ve got them set? Don’t know. I’ll definitely have to experiment further. I know some TBers here have been using two compressors (IIRC David Gilmour used to do that) in different places in their signal chain. That’s something I never tried and probably should.